Page:Alexander and Dindimus (Skeat 1878).djvu/35

 participles of weak verbs in the singular, a mark of the lateness of the transcription or of ignorance of spelling. We find the comparatives bliþure, schenure, beture, keture, comelokur; as also lasse, werse; and the superlatives kiddeste, egrest, grymmest, grettest (see 975, 976). The endings -ly, -li, and -liche are both used for adverbs and adjectives without distinction; thus we have cofliche, cofli, and cofly.

As to pronouns, for I the forms are i, y, and ich (1137); for thou, we have þou; pl. ȝe in the nominative, ȝou, ȝow, in the dative and accusative; see l. 540. The third personal pronoun is he, gen. his, is, dat. and acc. him; though in one instance (l. 703) the acc. is written hin, more likely by an error of the scribe than by a preservation of the n in the A.S. hine. The feminine of the third person is hue (as in Alexander A.), but sche occurs once in l. 309; acc. hure. The neuter is commonly hit. The plural nom. is þey or þei; gen. hure, hur; dat. and acc. hem. We find euerych a = every (86). Huo, used for who, occurs interrogatively (941); huo-so or ho-so occurs for who-so (1001, 1060).

In the case of verbs, the infinitive ends in -en, as reden, maken, forleten; in -e, as in bereue, tine; in -ien, as tilien; in -ie, as þolie, or -ye, as tulye; very rarely in -yn, as helyn (320). In the present tense, 2nd pers. sing., we find -est, as in berest, bringest, lettest, sentest(e), wilnest; cf. the contracted form wost (516). In the 3rd pers. sing., we most often find -us, as farus, kairus, lepus, wendus, romwus; but also -es, as fondes; and even -eþ, as seseþ, askeþ, with which compare the contracted forms biclipth and et (= eteth, 862). The plural ends in -en or -e; rarely in -in, as wetin (99), worchin, 361; once in -on, as sauouron (496), probably by an error of the scribefor sauouren; see numerous examples in ll. 712–733.

The imperative plural (2nd person) ends in -us, as in giuus (972); in -es, as in ȝernes (67); but also in -eþ (190), which is possibly due to the scribe. Of past tenses, we may not the use of sai and sie, in the sense of saw, in the singular; and saien and sihen, in the same sense, in the plural; sew (sing.) in the sense of sowed seed; and wreten (pl.) in the sense of wrote. The 2nd person singular of strong verbs ends in -e, as þou bade (511). Examples of weak verbs are, in the singular, helde, wente, brente, wiste, with the fuller forms askede,